Kansas City, Kan. – Behind the scenes Sunday, the closest Nextel Cup race to Colorado had an East Coast and Northwest feel.
State and county representatives from New York and Washington, two areas where International Speedway Corporation has announced plans to build racetracks, toured Kansas Speedway on a day Tony Stewart captured the third of 10 Chase races at the beautiful ISC facility.
A Colorado contingent wasn’t to be found, perhaps signaling ISC’s plans that building in metro Denver remains on the back burner. A new raceway will become a sister venue with Kansas Speedway and 11 other big-league ISC facilities that combine to host 19 of 36 Nextel Cup races.
ISC executives remain noncommittal about their Colorado project and contend their focus is on Staten Island, N.Y., and Tacoma, Wash. But the world’s premier auto-racing venue builders, whose chairman is NASCAR heir Bill France Jr., have had many meetings with Commerce City officials and are looking at other land deals near Denver International Airport.
NASCAR president Mike Helton, who will be in charge of awarding Nextel Cup races to expansion tracks, said the sanctioning body is pulling for ISC to land a Denver deal if one of the other projects stalls.
“It’s a matter of taking advantage of opportunities,” Helton said before Sunday’s race, in which Stewart coasted to the checkered flag after running out of fuel on the final lap. “There is no question that the Denver market is a significant market in the country and in all of sports. It’s something that we follow with interest and hope that it turns out.”
Legendary car owner and former ISC board member Roger Penske – whose son Greg is on the ISC board and responsible for growth and development – failed to build a 2-mile track in the late 1990s in Adams County before Penske Motorsports Inc. merged with ISC. ISC’s ensuing attempt with proposed drag-racing co-tenant Bandimere Speedway collapsed in 2001, but Penske said Denver remains a key untapped market and is confident a good private-public partnership can be struck.
“Having NASCAR in that part of the country is going to be terrific,” Roger Penske said. “Our sponsors want it. It’s a key market, and it will only grow our fan base.”
Meanwhile, Stewart’s victory before a sellout crowd of more than 90,000 capped a thrilling race that featured 20 lead changes among 13 drivers. Stewart led only the final five laps, after leader Jimmie Johnson and Greg Biffle had to pit for fuel, giving Stewart a 14-second advantage over eventual runner-up Casey Mears.
“This is the thing about not being in the Chase, we can roll the dice,” said Stewart, the defending series champion who is not among the 10 drivers in competing in the 10-race playoffs. “When the fuel pressure gauge was at zero and the engine was dying, I just kicked it in neutral and let it coast. These (cars) being 3,400 pounds will coast a long way …
“I was quick to push the clutch in, switch off the ignition and kick it out of gear and ride it around the apron and hope that I had enough momentum to get to the finish line.”
The top finishes among Chase drivers went to Mark Martin (third), Jeff Burton (fifth), Kyle Busch (seventh) and Dale Earnhardt Jr. (10th). Burton extended his lead in the season standings from six points over Jeff Gordon to 69 points over rookie Denny Hamlin.
Johnson, who led a race-high 105 laps, had a disastrous day after a good finish appeared promising. After giving up the lead with three laps to go for a splash of gas, he was penalized for speeding on pit road and finished 14th.
Staff writer Mike Chambers can be reached at 303-954-1357 or mchambers@denverpost.com.
